·3 min read
Katie from East Cowes has to decide whether she feeds her child or pays to take him to school. 19 councillors chose to ignore this story and voted against calls for the Cabinet to reconsider their decision.
Cowes Floating bridge: All you need to know
The Floating Bridge links Cowes and East Cowes, running regularly through the day and much of the evening. It’s sometimes called the Chain Ferry because it pulls itself both sides of the river on a chain.
Below are articles charting the history of the Cowes Floating Bridge.
·1 min read
Many were surprised to hear that the Cowes floating bridge - which used to run with a profit of around £140k per annum - now had a deficit of £500,000. OnTheWight found out why.
·2 min read
Just when you thought the Isle of Wight council had reached the peak of their incompetency with the Floating Bridge fiasco, an OnTheWight investigation reveals IWC have no idea how many people have been phoning them to complain about it.
·3 min read
Three Isle of Wight councillors were calling for charges on the passenger launch between Cowes and East Cowes to be dropped whilst issue with the floating bridge are resolved. The Cabinet has dismissed the calls.
·3 min read
Cllr Ian Ward, who receives an additional £7k+ a year as the Isle of Wight council Cabinet member and whose responsibilities specifically include the floating bridge, was unable to answer basic questions about the replacement service. Full details of the interview within.
·1 min read
Three Isle of Wight councillors are calling for foot passenger charges on the replacement floating bridge service to be scrapped until all the issues are resolved. One councillor says parents from low income households are having to pay £6 per day in order to walk their children to school.
·1 min read
Labour councillor, Geoff Brodie, says he believes Scrutiny members are being "misled" over the controversial decision to fully suspend the Cowes Floating Bridge, adding that "officers are covering for a political decision".
·2 min read
East Cowes' Councillors say actions of the Isle of Wight council leadership show "a complete lack of duty of care" and slam them for breaking promises to consult, saying suspension of floating bridge will isolate the two towns.
·1 min read
Last week Cllr Ian Ward claimed that Isle of Wight council had received only eight complaints about the Floating Bridge shambles. Today 400 hand-signed complaints have been sent the Local Government Ombudsman.
·1 min read
Residents and businesses respond to the Isle of Wight council's announcement that Floating Bridge 6 will be taken out of service until it can "can operate properly in accordance with the council’s specified requirements".
·3 min read
After telling the public that it was all OK because the commissioning period had not finished, the Isle of Wight council finally admit that "it is simply not acceptable that the vessel still cannot operate at all states of the tide" and are taking Floating Bridge 6 out of service.
·1 min read
Isle of Wight council admit there is an ongoing issue with chain depths of the floating bridge on ebb tide and have amended the timetable for August bank holiday weekend. Check before you travel.
